HIGHLIGHTS:
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY PRESENTS BRONZE AWARD FOR WORK ON REGIONAL SCREENING TABLES

A team led by Wilson McGinn of the Human Health Risk & Environmental Analysis Group of ESD has received two awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in recognition of the contributions to risk assessment tools. The most recent of these two awards, in May 2009, was a Bronze Medal from EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation.

The awards were made in recognition of the team's significant improvements to the risk-based concentration screening tables, which are now available on-line. The EPA letter of commendation states that the tables "provides environmental professionals and the public with a 'state-of-the-art' resource for evaluating environmental contamination." The EPA also recognized the "superior and timely performance" of McGinn's team in completing these Regional Screening Tables.

The commendation and award from EPA goes on to say that the completion of the Regional Screening Tables was accomplished in FY 2008 without negatively impacting the other important projects that were being conducted by personnel within ESD, including maintenance of databases for Provisional Peer Reviewed Toxicity Values (PPRTVs) and for Health Effects Assessment Summary Tables (HEASTs). The ESD staff has also developed and maintained various other tools and calculators for chemical and radiological contamination of interest to EPA.

This web-based system is available nationally as a resource of standardized screening data and tools for all risk assessment activities conducted under CERCLA.  This is the first such system to be made available nationally an accomplishment made possible through the collaboration of EPA Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, EPA Regional Offices, ORNL, and the University of Tennessee Institute for Environmental Modeling.

View EPA Letters: October 7, 2008 | May 12, 2009

For further information, contact:

Wilson McGinn, Leader
Risk and Regulatory Analysis Team  
Human Health Risk & Environmental Analysis Group
Environmental Sciences Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, Tenn. 37831-6495
Phone:  (865) 576-2734

e-mail:  mcginncw@ornl.gov